A Tale of Two Dragons
by Adventuresomely
Summary: In a kingdom once peaceful, two princes fight endlessly with their dragons to prove whom is more correct in his views. A fight of truth versus ideals, only one can win in the end if they cannot reconcile their differences. (This is a multi-chaptered AU mixing both Earthbound an Mother 3. Rated M for bloodshed of later chapters and possible sexual themes.)


As some of you have learned – and as we all painfully learn with age that the world is not always a safe and beautiful place - legends and stories of heroism are not quite always as they seem, nor do they always have the happy ending we all long for in our own lives. In this particular case, we have an atypical story of kings and princes engaging in a war against evil forces, even if many people misconstrue the details to a point in their verbal exchanges with one another. Naturally though, they wouldn't have all the correct details unless they were present for the entirety of what went on. Much of what they say is based on rumors and ideas their wild imaginations have brought on from things they've seen, such as the magnificent black dragon flying high above the castle early in the morning as the sun rises over the hills. Here and now, I'll tell you the real story that the villagers could scarcely begin to imagine, starting from the beginning when the two princes were born of a dying mother and a heart diseased father.

In the beginning, there was a powerful king who knew only of love and harmony in his vast kingdom, and tended to be generous with all of those who lived within the realm that he ruled over. He cared greatly for all of the people and did what he could to make them happy, granting them freedom and prosperity, building them rocky roads and paths to travel by, and of course giving them great amounts of food so that a stomach would never feel the pain of hunger late into the night. He wanted them to be happy and to give them all that they needed in life, even if some of them hadn't quite earned their rite of passage, lazily living their lives without working very often, if at all. Thankfully, only a few people mooched off his kindness, feeling guilty otherwise.

To the king, the idea of his people going without the necessities of life was similar to thinking of going without necessities, himself. The concept of being without that substance that sooths the empty stomach, being without the ability to feed one's hungry children; it was demeaning and shameful, and nobody should ever have to feel such shame. To be without roads to travel or houses to sleep in – what a dreadful life it would be, and he couldn't stand the thought of it for an instant. If it were his own family – and had he not been fatefully born into royalty – he would hope that the king would be kind to his people just as he was to them now. He was smart enough and modest enough even in his position to not allow his power to corrupt him and go to his head – he always considered people before he considered himself, and to many that had earned him the nickname of "Pure hearted King", or "He who Never Betrays His People".

His own father had imbued upon him these traits of kindness, telling him each night before he went to bed, "Someday you'll be king of these lands, and it's up to you, son, to do the right thing and treat people right. You'll be rewarded for it in the end and people will always respect a good leader. Don't ever forget that."

He never did forget, and he did what he could to be a strong and powerful, proud leader for his people. His people looked up to him, saw him as a good person and trusted in him just as they had trusted in his father, so he felt certain that he was doing well enough that his father would be proud. That was all he had wanted, to believe wherever his father was now, he was proud and smiling down on him. He wouldn't hesitate, then, to imbue these same traits upon his own son when he should have one. It was important to him, just as it'd been important to his father and his great grandfather, that he do what he could to raise his children right.

This gentle hearted king, whom rarely showed his true emotions outside of his actions, was beginning to get on in the years and was at an age of twenty seven – a good age for most men to have children. It had taken him quite some time to consider the idea, but he felt confident and ready to begin his own family at long last. The king had heart problems, and always had even since he was a mere boy whom studied by the light of a flickering candle in his study chamber. It was important that he bear a son as soon as possible now that he was ready for such a commitment. It would be unfortunate should he wait too long to bear a son, as the royal linage would simply die out in such a case.

He was extremely fond of children and loved the prospect of taking care of one, though he didn't even have a wife at this point to conceive one. For the time, he was almost jealous of how many of the villagers had families and children of their own while he did not, but this was his own fault and he knew it. He was terribly fussy and hadn't considered many women a potential queen and mother of his children, as he wanted them to have the best genetics possible to cancel out his own less than ideal ones. Shameful he was of his genes. He greatly hoped that his son would not inherit his heart problems, else he live a life of fear that death would come for him at any moment. That was the last thing he wished for his own children, not just for the royal lineage, but because his children were of his own flesh and blood. To lose that would surely be too painful for him to continue on.

Soon thereafter, once he had considered the traits he truly wanted in his wife and which ones he could abolish as crucially important, he set his gaze to the fair maidens of his kingdom, and most importantly, Tazmily Village. Quite a few maidens there were just coming of age to be suiting for child birthing, but many were ill of health or simply too ignorant for what he sought. Day in and day out he sought a woman that held the characteristics he found best, but to no real avail. Seek and seek as he did, none of the maidens were just right for him. Each one was both naively innocent and ignorant to a point of annoyance, a prude witch with no desire for screaming children, cruel women who thought only of themselves and their possessions or women who were sickly and weak with disease. In each of these cases, he didn't wish to subject himself to the misery they would bring him in the end.

He hadn't expected finding a suitable wife to be so horribly difficult in a village that was abundant and overall very healthy. Yes, you could say the king began to find himself falling to despair as months passed without a single suitor. He could lower his standards and take on a wife whom was less than ideal, but in the end he couldn't shake the feeling that his children would ultimately suffer in the end because of it. Regardless, he was beginning to feel like he was at the end of his rope, and if he didn't hurry along with bringing about a family, he would simply die of his heart condition without anyone to take his place. Perhaps, then, lowering his standards was the only option he had?

The king considered it for a long time – weeks, in fact, before he came to the conclusion that he had to do what was necessary to keep the royal lineage alive, even if in the end his family suffered to some extent because of it. It wasn't the most ideal thing, but even he couldn't seem to obtain what he ideally wanted above all else, as it simply didn't seem to exist. He was resigned to this fact, sighing very quietly to himself as he left the comforts of his castle walls to seek out a regular woman who would do 'Well enough' as a wife, so to speak. What a fateful thing that he did, as well! His judgment couldn't have come at a better time, and fate had decided to play its card on him at long last!

As the king left his castle with a resigned slump to his shoulders, a woman picking apples nearby quickly took note of him and smiled as she ceased her plucking for the moment. She was a somewhat young woman – twenty years old at oldest judging by her perfect, unflawed tan skin. Atop her head she wore a straw hat that covered part of her long, chocolate brown hair – tied up in a perfect ponytail that let hardly a single hair stray into her features. The clothing she wore weren't exceptional, but they seemed strangely fitting to her all the same; a long red dress that flowed around her, reaching beyond her knees and a white linen undergarment that reached her ankles. She wore no shoes – though if it was because shoes were expensive or because she enjoyed the feeling of grass against her feet was anyone's guess. She was beautiful and certainly not frail or dainty – a perfect mixture of feminine beauty with the necessary strength of a woman ready for childrearing.

The apple orchards were a distance away from the castle and people often went picking at this time of the year, so the king paid no mind to them with his intentions set on the village. Only did he cease walking when the woman called out to him, her voice playfully mocking in such a way that it was easy to tell that she had more confidence than any woman he'd met in the village previously. She held such poise along with this confidence, there was no doubt she was much different from the others he'd set his eyes upon.

"Ah, dear king, 'sa a fine day isn't it?"

The smile that teased along her lips and the tone of her voice left the king dumbstruck. He considered it for a moment, before he wandered closer to the woman and gazed at her in a curious way. Curious she was – beautiful, confident and strong, he couldn't help but admire those traits greatly and, inside of his chest, he felt a slight flutter that was quite unusual. Was it a case of being stricken by love at first sight? His expression must have shown it, because the woman giggled cutely as she turned her attention back to the apples she'd been picking before. He muttered dumbly, stuttering and at a loss for words as he tried to speak to her. His composure was lost for the first time in quite a while, and an average woman was the one to do it!

"E-Erm... Yes, ah do suppose 'sa a fine day out, aint it?"

He paused and shook his head, trying to regain his composure at least slightly. How embarrassing, to be a blubbering fool in front of a woman he'd just met! She didn't seem to mind – in fact, she seemed to be amused by his attempts while she twisted apples from their branches and set them easily in her half full basket. The humiliation he felt, though, as his chest and stomach filled with a fluttering sensation!

"...Whom might ya be, miss? I haven't seen ya 'round the village even once, n' I've visited on several occasions b'fore!"

The woman didn't even pause her plucking as her voice came to her, confidently as before and as if she felt no fear being in the presence of the king, or in the fact that he was in a much higher social standing than she. No, she seemed braver than even he, who was shaken instead by her presence alone!

"You, sir, may call me Hinawa, daughter of Alec. What is it that brings ya ta these parts, dear king?"

Again he found himself at a loss of words for how bold Hinawa was, but he did his best to cast aside his mild shock and act royally as he was – not as that blubbering love struck fool he'd portrayed himself to be only moments ago. No, he was better than that, he couldn't let his composure slide so easily as this.

"Hinawa; such a beautiful name for an equally beautiful maiden, if ah do say so."

He made a short gesture with his hands, smiling as he finally regained proper composure around the brave woman.

"'M out, admittedly, ta seek a wife who will bear me a son. 'M starting to get on in th' years n' may not live much longer as m' heart is weak. It is necessary fer me ta have a child who will continue the lineage, ya see?"

There was a sharp movement of Hinawa's hand, and she picked a particularly large apple off a low hanging branch, which she promptly offered to the king with a smile that could rival the beauty of even the rising sun. She made a slight curtsying motion toward him, in hopes to appease him with courtesy.

"Ah see, king. Ahm a fair maiden, but ah suppose ya wouldn't be interested in taking mah hand since there's so many other beautiful maidens in the village. Would ya be interested in me, even in mah peasantry clothin and bare feet?"

Oh, how a blush lit up his face at her offer! She had really and truly just offered her hand in marriage to him, no questions asked! Surely so, she was a peasant woman and undoubtedly didn't own a large estate even if the lands were prosperous, but she was generous and honest all the same! From her mannerism of speaking, she was no fool and most likely knew all about the king and of all his affairs long before he spoke of them. Beauty! Kindness! Generosity! Confidence, too! She had each and every trait that he could have possibly wanted in a woman, and she had offered herself to him without a single thought, because she was a fair maiden and she wanted only the best for her children, too. The king, she knew, could offer the best for her children when she bore them upon him.

"What a kindly offer from ya, miss! Ya have all the traits ah seek for my children and ya have a great beauty as well! If ya would allow me, ah would take your hand in an instant and have ya become mah queen!"

Ah, how giddy she seemed at his response! Even though they had only just met, she flung her arms around him and hugged him to her bosom as tightly as she could. It was quite an informal response, but the king who had been love struck and didn't want to admit to the fact, held nothing against it and allowed it with some humor. Until the apple basket was filled, the king and Hinawa spent the rest of their time together, picking the ripe red fruits from the massive tree that was in abundance at the high of the season. Not out of a desire for a comfortable new home or for children to be born, the two fell in love with one another's personalities almost instantly, as if they were meant to be from the instant they met.

The king helped Hinawa carry the apples back to the castle, storing them away for whenever she should wish to eat one at her own free will. Not a week later, they were to be wedded at the very same castle, in the presence of the entire village to witness their uniting. In the same week, Hinawa became impregnated, and so began the king and newly made queen's lives as a soon to be family. The king had never been happier in his entire life – he had a child on the way and a wife whom was more than perfect for himself. Life could not have been better, and he felt certain within himself that the kingdom would continue to flourish just as it always had.

Thirty-seven weeks later, Hinawa went into labor and, much to her and the king's surprise, there was not only one baby, but two – a set of twin boys who were born at the small weight of only four pounds, five ounces each. Both boys were kept under close observation for a few days thereafter by the castle nurses, but it was not long until they were strong enough to return to their mother's and father's care, where they truly belonged. These boys were so similar they might as well have been the same person! The Queen had the perfect names for these identical twins; Claus as the eldest and for the younger-by-a-few-minutes, Lucas. There was nothing more either parent could ask for, because now they had quite literally everything they could ever want right here in their own two arms.


End file.
